Same As It Never Will Be
by The Fangirl of Awesome Stuff
Summary: Donnie wakes up in the middle of trashed lair without any memory of how he got there! What is the bo wielding teenage mutant ninja turtle to do? *WARNING! THIS STORY WILL PROBABLY UDATED VERY SLOWLY! A WHOLE YEAR COULD PASS BETWEEN CHAPTERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! (Sorry guys, but I have 3 others to update, plus ones on different accounts. I appreciate any and all reviews, though!)


**Same As It Never Will Be**

**by NicoDiAngelo234**

Speech Key:

"talking"

_'thinking'_

_/dream or memory/_

**A/N: Yes, I'm re-doing SAINW, sue me! I just love it so much, and this idea has bounced around my head for a while now. ****I just don't like how it turned out. **I don't even know if I will continue this, but if I decide to I will let you guys know!

**_Donatello_**

It was the great sense of wrongness that was the first thing to come to Don's sharp senses. Like something wasn't as it was supposed to be, like a horrible presence in the air. It was because of this feeling that when Donnie snapped awake, he immediately jumped up into an automatic defensive position. This proved to be the wrong thing to do, because he was promptly hit with a surge of dizziness. It was only from his sheer force of will that he didn't pass right back out again. He groaned, shaking his head, trying to get rid of the vertigo. Once Don was sure he wasn't going to fall down again, he carefully began to analyze his surroundings; making sure to keep his Bo at the ready. He almost froze in shock as he got a look at where he was at.

Don was standing in a room filled with rubble, like someone had decided to do some renovating and never finished the job. _'And they forgot about for some time ago, too'_ he thought, catching sight of the thick layers of dust and old spider webs coating the room around him. '_That is strange. How the heck did I get in the middle this room without making a noticeable path?'_ Excluding the dust he had stirred up when he had jumped to his feet, the dust surrounding him was completely untouched. It was dark, with the only light coming from a gaping hole in the ceiling. There was another hole in the floor, right near where he had woken up, and yet another in a side wall, like something had crashed through it from the outside. A big something, too. Don squinted at his surroundings, trying to figure out why the layout looked so familiar only to let out a gasp when a sudden thought came to him.

_'I...I think this is the lair, but what the shell happened?! Why is so trashed?! Wait, if this really is the lair, then where is-?!'_

"Master Splinter?! Master Splinter! Leo, Mikey, Raph! Are you here?!"

The only answer he got was the worry filled echoes of his own voice. Don put his Bo back in it strap, turning around to look all around him. Now he was positive that no one had been here a long time, the rotting couch was a big give away. Rot, dust and cobwebs didn't just happen over night, it would take years for it to get like this. And the hole in the wall...it wasn't from an explosion, something had literally broken it down.

And what of his brothers? And Master Splinter? How long ago did this happen? Was this a cause of some fight? Were they okay? What if they were hurt or worse? Don shied away from the last thought. There was no way his brothers were gone, he had seen them this morning...hadn't he? When an image of this morning didn't immediately pop into his mind, he froze mid walk. Frantically, he scoured his mind, focusing on this morning, but nothing came.

He...didn't remember.

Donnie growled, closing his eyes and focusing harder than ever before. In the back of his mind, he came up with a memory. Actually, it was an emotion, a feeling of... horrified surprise? Don frowned, he didn't like the direction this was going. Nevertheless, he grabbed on to the feeling with a hard mental grip, tugging harshly. Yes, it was horrified surprise, like something had happened that startled and horrified him and something else, something to do with Raph. Don pulled harder, until finally all the resistance gave in. Worry was the second thing he had felt, worry for...Raph? Why would he be worried about Raph?! Had he been hurt?! Donnie concentrated again, trying to find out why he had been worried. He was met with utter blankness, no matter what he tried.

Growling in frustration, he rubbed his temples. He could feel a migraine coming on, but at the moment he didn't care. All he cared about was that he found his brothers and made sure they were unhurt.

_'This is a horrible time to have memory loss' _

He looked around at his dusty, cobweb filled surroundings, frowning and trying not to panic. Waking up somewhere without remembering how he had got there, he could handle; even if that somewhere was a trashed, time torn lair. What he couldn't handle, was that for some reason he _couldn't remember_, he had been worried about Raph. To be completely honest, it scared him badly to think there was something wrong with his brother, and he couldn't recall what it was.

As he looking a particularly dusty patch of floor, a thought came to him.

_'I can't remember anything, the lair looks like lots of time has passed. So...do I look any different?'_

His eye widened at the thought. Hurriedly, he shoved through the wreckage, trying to get to the bathroom. When he finally got there, he planted himself firmly in front of the dusty, cracked mirror. His scared looking, sixteen year old face stared back at him, not the full formed adult he had been afraid would be there. Twisting around, he found that he looked no different from he remembered looking, not a unknown scar to be seen. Don let out a shaky breath of relief, but the relief didn't last long.

_'I still look the same, but what about the rest of the lair? Is it trashed too? Only one way to find out' _

Don nodded to himself, grateful for something to do, turning and going toward the direction of Raph's room first. He had to push the door out of his way, it had been busted down from the inside, like Raph had been in a hurry to get out. It was easy, with the hinges so rusted; not to mention they were half-broken off any way. His immediate older brother's room was bare, except for the weights pushed into the corner. Raph's hammock was on the floor in a pile of ropes, and the shelf that had used to house the toy motorcycle Don had made for him as a tot and other precious things from they're child hood was in pieces. Crouching down and examining the end of one of the ropes from the hammock, he found something he didn't like. The rope had been cut, with a sword, from the look of the pattern. He closed his eyes, trying not to let the worry over come him. He had to search for clues, then he could worry all he wanted, he promised himself that. Standing again, Donnie sighed, looking around the dusty room sadly. It made his heart ache to see his brother's room so bare and lonely looking. Turning, he left the room, ignoring the urge to look back.

Next, he went to Mikey's room. His little brother's door was riddled with little holes. _'Looks a lot like a bullets'_ Don forced that thought to the back of his mind as he pried open the door, the rusted hinges screaming in protest. If he had expected a barren room, wiped clean of any personal items, he would have been sorely disappointed. Mikey's action figures were scattered all across the floor, some were broken into pieces, while others were almost all the way intact. The shelf that used to house them proudly was now sagging with rot. The bed was in the same state. Like before in Raph's room, seeing Mikey's most prized possessions broken and forgotten made his heart clench, so he didn't stay long. With one last sweep of the room, he left quickly.

Leo's room was next. His door was gone, and he could see it a little ways away, splintered against the wall. Like Raph's room, it was completely bare except for a few things left behind. On the shelf where his leader in blue kept his incense candles, sat two burned out ones. The floor mats were gone, as was the old mask of Leo's when he was still young. The desk and bed looked the same as his other brother's things: decayed and dusty. Don noticed a piece of furniture that he had never seen before in the room. He tilted his head, his eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out how it had gotten there. Eventually, he gave it up. With how many things that didn't add up, he shouldn't be surprised there was something he didn't recognize.

Instead of going to Master Splinters room or his own, he wandered back into the living area. Chances were they looked just the same as his three brothers' rooms. Thinking of the bullet holes in his little brother's door, he started looking for other signs of a fight. Now that he was actively searching for them, signs popped up everywhere. There scratches from swords on the floor, holes that could only have been made by bullets in the scrap pieces of metal, there were even some unfamiliar weapons lying haphazardly across the room. He suddenly caught sight of a patch of red, and turned to investigate it, despite his reluctance. He just really hoped it wasn't blood...

It wasn't, but Donnie almost wished it had been. It was a patch of clothing that looked like it had been ripped off. The symbol was the familiar marking of the three-toed foot print of a dragon. "Shredder's mark.."

He glared at it grimly. There was no doubt in his mind that there been a fight, he knew that now. He had only been hoping that it wasn't what it had been, despite all the evidence. He was just relieved that his brothers had gotten away okay. Because their rooms wouldn't have been bare if they hadn't.

Don looked around the ruined room with a forlorn gaze. He knew that he would have to leave this place if the Shredder had found it. The bucket head wasn't so incompetent to not have a monitoring system at all the exits and entrances. He'd have to be quick about it, get away before anyone could come.

The terrapin rode the elevator up to the warehouse on high alert, just waiting for Shredder's men to appear any second. He had to push the door to the warehouse down into the inside to get in. He could help but pause when he caught sight of the wreckage that had become of it. "The entire lair is trashed, even the warehouse!" He suddenly caught sight of one of his inventions. It seemed to still be standing, and he actually recognized what it was, unlike most of the destroyed things in the room. "Huh, the tunneler looks like it's still in one piece"

He frowned to himself, moving on. Up ahead, he caught sight of a huge hole in wall that led right out onto the street. Moving cautiously, he was about to step outside when he stopped. It was broad day light out... and there were no sounds. That was unheard of in New York, it hadn't been nicknamed the city that never sleeps for nothing. It was making him want to turn right back around and go inside, but he forced himself to stay put, no matter how much the silence made goosebumps pop up on his arms. Not to mention the cold feeling trickling down his neck. Steeling himself, he stepped outside.

Donnie gaped from the shock he got, his legs actually _buckled_ from it. The buildings around him were frighteningly unfamiliar, and the ones that he even remotely recognized were sagging from old age, with all the windows busted out. The ones he didn't recognize seemed to be some kind of factories, the smokestacks at the top was a dead give away. The road was old-looking, like it hadn't been replaced in a long time. Nearby, a street lamp was about to topple over. The air was dense and murky, so polluted that all he could smell was the horrible stench coming from the industrial factories.

He almost didn't hear the helicopter.

If Don hadn't been expecting someone to come, he probably would have missed the whir of the helicopter's blades. In an instant, he was scanning his surroundings for a place to hide. Deducing that the roof of the building would be able to hold his weight and shield him from the view of the helicopter, he was immediately climbing. He was able to hide in the shadows just as the helicopter and the cars arrived. It was Shredder's men alright, they had the symbol displayed proudly on the forearms of their solid black clothes. From his hiding spot, he watched as the formidable looking men searched the perimeter of the building, but they didn't venture inside. Soon, they left, but only after the helicopter did one last sweep with its light. Then they went back the way they came.

Donnie let himself relax somewhat(there was no way he could be completely relaxed with the way things were)creeping out of the shadow he was hidden in.

_'That was a close one'_

He snorted to himself at the thought. Jumping down from the roof and onto the ground, he sagged against the wall in exhaustion, letting himself focus on trying to think this whole situation out logically.

So, he had somehow gotten in the middle of the wrecked lair. And he had no idea where he was, where his brothers were, or even how he had got here in the first place. Shell, come to think of it, he didn't even remember what he had for breakfast this morning!

_'What _is_ the last thing I remember?'_

Rolling his eyes at himself, '_And Raph says I'm the smart one. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought to do this before!' _Don went over the events of the previous day. Okay, he could clearly remember patching up Mikey -the little chucklehead crashed his skateboard _again_ and got a pretty good gash on his arm, it had needed stitches- and he could remember working on one of his newest inventions late into the night until Leo had come to drag him to bed. This was where his memory started getting foggy. He remembered wakening up, having his coffee, the usual. Then he recalled going into his lab to work again... After that, nothing but the same horrified surprise and worry for Raph.

Donnie felt the worry he had kept at bay until now come to the forefront of his mind. Speaking of his hot-tempered brother, he really hoped he, Mikey, and Leo were alright. He didn't know what he would do if any of them were killed. Don visibly flinched, pushing that horrible thought to the back of his mind.

Shaking his head, he focused back on thinking this whole thing out.

He had searched almost the entire lair and had found nothing but dust and decay. Donnie knew a fight had happened, and he knew Shredder was behind it. He also knew that a lot of time had passed. If the thick layer of dust, rot, and cobwebs didn't prove it, the state of the city did. And based on how fast Shredder's men responded and how conspicuous they were about it, Don would bet money that he had control of the city. He would have to be extra careful if that were the case, there was no way he could take any chances with this.

Donnie stood up so he was no longer leaning against the wall. Swiftly, he started making his way through the city, sticking to the shadow filled alley ways instead of the preferred roofs. He couldn't take the chance of one of the helicopters catching him. Don found himself unconsciously heading towards April's place, he didn't know where else he could go. Maybe it would have the clues that the lair didn't? It was all he could think of, so he didn't change his direction. It was difficult to find his human friend's shop when he kept having to wait for the patrol cars to go by every few minutes, not to mention he had almost gotten himself lost exactly 5 times. As luck would have it, every time he was about to take a wrong turn, he would see a familiar building that he knew was on the way to her place. Only a block away from April's, he heard something that wasn't helicopter blades about to fly over his head.

Stopping, he made sure that what ever it was couldn't possibly see him, then he took a look at what it was. It was... some kind of machines that flew in what he recognized as a patrol formation. They were humanoid in shape, flying in the classic Superman pose. The light was too poor to see many details, but even with the dim lighting, Don could tell that they were built from a metal he vaguely remembered seeing somewhere before. The more he looked, the more complicated and fascinating the machines seemed. They looked like they could do a lot of damage in a fight. Oh, the things he could make if he got his hands on one of those...

But, before his giddy mind was able to come up with more than a dozen different gadgets and gizmos, he noticed something abnormal in a specific part of the machine's design.

_'But what is that in the abdominal region? Heh, it kind of looks like a Ultrom' _

Cocking his head to the side, he craned his neck higher, trying to get a better look. A light from one of the nearby patrol cars suddenly illuminated one of the machines, and Don jerked back, gasping out loud in shock. It was a Ultrom! But how the shell did it get here?! He was positive they all traveled back to their planet using the Transmat device, he had seen it himself! And why would they help Shredder?! They hate each other! It doesn't make any sense! Don shook his head, trying not to let this new information overwhelm him. Taking a calming breath, he looked up to stare at the aerial patrol again.

_'Maybe... they don't have a choice in the matter'_

The purple loving terrapin's eyes widened with horror at the thought. If that was true, and Shredder had enslaved the Ultroms... that meant he had access to all of their technology! With all of that state-of-the-art mechanics that were light years ahead of Earth's, he was capable of making devastating weapons! Shell, with what he had seen of the kind of things the little pink aliens had access to, he would be able to take over the whole world with little, to no difficulty. Not to mention the Transmat device, a machine capable of sending anything you could imagine to a whole other galaxy in the blink of an eye

Donnie suddenly caught sight of his hands, and he dimly realized he was shaking. Sagging against the wall of the alley, he clenched his heads into fists, trying to make his hands quit trembling. But no matter how hard he tried, the tremors refused to stop. His chest suddenly started to ache, making it had for him to breathe. As he started gasping for breath, he faintly realized that he was about to have a panic attack. Moving deeper into the shadows of the alley, he leaned against the wall. "Okay Donnie boy, calm down. It'll be OK, you'll figure something out" He made sure his voice was barely audible in order not to be heard.

Closing his eyes, he slipped into a semi-meditative state, making sure he kept an ear out for the sounds of a person coming into the alley he was in. Slowly, his ragged breathing returned to its usual steady rhythm, and the shaking in his hands ceased. _'I sure am lucky they didn't catch me. It would have been disastrous for them to catch me just when I was having a panic attack' _Opening his eyes, he stood so the wall was no longer supporting his weight. With one last pitying look for the flying Ultroms, he set off in the direction of April's store again.

It didn't take long for him to come to her street, he had only been a block away when he had stopped. _'It should be right here...'_

Donnie actually tripped when he caught sight of April's store, or rather, where it was supposed to be. Because it was gone. All that was there was an empty lot. On either sides where it had been, two factories puffed smoke into the air. He simply stood and gawked at it for a while, ignoring the world around him almost completely. Really, he shouldn't have been so shocked; he had known there was a chance the store would be gone. But knowing and seeing were two entirely different things. Without him realizing, a small part of him had hoped that he would find all the answers to his questions here, a small part of him had refused to believe the possibility that his friend's store was gone. A wise man had once said "Seeing is believing", and at that moment, Don realized this to be true.

_'What do I do now?'_

Donnie didn't get the chance to answer, because at that moment, he heard the sound of helicopter blades heading right for him. Before he got the chance to move, the search light found him, almost blinding him with its brightness.

"Attention citizen! Put your hands up and drop your weapon!"

Ignoring whoever had spoken, he immediately jumped out of the beam, turning and high tailing it the way he had come. While he ran, Don thanked his lucky stars that he had thought to memorize the path he had taken to get to where April's store had been. He could hear his pursuers not far behind him, steadily gaining on his tail. Pushing himself to go faster, he practically flew through the night. The second youngest terrapin knew it was only a matter of time before they managed to catch up with him, but he continued running anyway, zigzagging through back alleys, trying in vain to lose them. Don had to hand it to them, they sure were persistent. They followed him though even the grimiest of alleys that he had cut into, not faltering for even a second.

_'Maybe it's time for a little off road rage'_

Smirking to himself, he suddenly climbed on top of the nearest roof. After roof hopping for about five minutes, he came to a collapsed building he had seen earlier. Without a second thought, he plunged into it. It was filled with plenty of shadows and ruble to hide himself with, but it was like a maze. It would make sure he lost those chasing him, but he might just get lost in here himself if he wasn't careful.

He barreled into another room, only to let out one of the many curses he had learned from Raph when he saw that he had just run into a room full of humans. Don was in a state of panic now, so the 75% of his mind that had been focused on running didn't register that the humans seemed flabbergasted to see him, nor did he notice they were wearing entirely different clothes than his pursuers. If he hadn't been nearly hysterical, he probably would have stayed to at least ask some questions. With an exclamation of "Oh shell!" he zipped back into the wreckage. Another thing Don didn't notice, was one of the men pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke in it. "Mike, it seems that Shredders lackeys are chasing one of your brothers-" a voice on the other end cut him off.

"So? They'll be fine, both Leo and Raph are more than a match from them"

"But sir, it didn't look like either of them. He was wearing a purple mask, and he didn't seem to recognize us." The other voice let out a gasp, whispering something that went unheard by the other.

"...I'll be right there, but make sure they _do not _catch him. And Alex? If you hurt him, I will take a body part, got it?" The voice promised very much harm if his orders were not carried out. Involuntarily, the man now known as Alex shivered at the dark promise in the person's on the other end voice should he hurt the new turtle.

"Can do, Mike. Over and out" Alex's voice shook just the slightest bit as he hung up

Switching off the walkie-talkie, the dark-skinned man turned to the others beside him.

"Follow him, and make sure he doesn't get caught, but do not hurt him. Mike said he'll be here in a sec"

With that, they took off after the purple wearing turtle, being swallowed by the darkness of the collapsed building.


End file.
